Riverwood Presbyterian Church

General Theology

Old Time Religion

by Matt Tootle

Please don’t ask me why, but I was flipping through AM radio stations the other day and I stumbled across a gospel radio station. At that particular point, a song by the Canton Spirituals was playing (no, I didn’t know that – I had to google it), and the lyrics that caught my attention went as follows: “I’ve got to clean up what I’ve messed up. I’ve started my life over again. I’ve made up my mind I aint lying no more.”

Why, you might ask, did that catch my attention? As unpleasant as the song was to listen to, the lyrics totally described how I have lived much of my life. I’ve tried to clean up many things that I’ve messed up. I’ve started my life over again…and again…and again. And I’ve made up my mind, many times, that I aint (fill in the blank) no more. And I’ve failed miserably each time. Each time I have thought if I pray more, read more, memorize more, become more disciplined or more accountable I will finally be able to succeed. I bet you can guess the result.

I am very slowly starting to learn that my ugliness is much more messed up than I have ever realized. And hand in hand with that reality is, because of God’s grace, I can’t clean it up. I really do need the gospel. Apart from Christ’s work I am a cynical, frustrated, hardened failure.

General Theology

Faith or Negligence?

by Tim Lien

In Wausau, Wisconsin last week, 3 siblings were removed from their parents after their 11 yr. old sister died of an undiagnosed (yet fully treatable ) form of diabetes. The parents believed that healing comes exclusively from God. The removal has only occured for the duration of the upcoming investigation. Officials believe at the outset that there is little evidence that shows intentional wrongdoing.

The article is here.

Two quotes:

The family believes in the Bible, which says healing comes from God, Leilani Neumann said.

“There is no intent. They didn’t want their child to die. They thought what they were doing was the right thing,” he said. “They believed up to the time she stopped breathing she was going to get better. They just thought it was a spiritual attack. They believed if they prayed enough she would get through it.”

In a similar case: When I was young there was a family in our church that refused to buy life insurance, as they felt it was not properly trusting God to do so. The story does not have a happy ending. The dad died prematurely in an accident.

What do you think?

General Theology

Iconoclastic Fantastic

by Tim Lien

Recently, a church leader in Birmingham said that young PCA guys were a bunch of “iconoclasts”— always wanting to smash down all kinds of idols— be they traditionally venerated or obvious. Ok, I admit, I fit the description.

In reflection upon that this morning, I stumbled across this thought:

What do I run to when I am openly rebelling against God? Answer: An obvious idol that should give me great pause.

But the next question reveals something just as insidious: What do I run to when I want to feel close to God, again? Answer: A not-so-obvious idol, but an idol nonetheless, if it is anything less than Christ.

General Theology

Worth a Thousand Words

by Jimmy Hopper

Most of you have seen the “Motivational” posters that have “inspirational” pictures with an ironic meassage below them. For example, one I saw recently with a baton being passed in a race had the title BLAME, and the message, “Success is usually knowing who to blame.” The company that makes them is Despair.com and they are really quite funny.

I recently saw a poster of that type that is funny, but unlike some of the others, is as true as anything you may ever see, especially within the general context of Southern evangelical religion. In fact, I may print a copy of it to help myself stay straight.

General Theology

From A Secure, Undisclosed Location

by Tim Lien

Like Geraldo, I will make marks in the sand to let you know where I am for the pastor’s conference. I can put it in a way only Tuscaloosans can understand: Auburn Avenue and Monroe Louisiana. Both of those references sting a bit for the UA faithful. Here’s a great quote from one of Douglas Wilson’s talks:

“One of the greatestest miracles that Jesus ever did was listen to his disciples talk about theology without punching them.”

This conference is excellent; it is entitled “Liturgy and Life.” And it’s even better than it sounds.

Books

Novel Theology

by Jimmy Hopper

The Riverwood Book Group recently completed Graham Greene’s novel of love in wartime London, The End of the Affair. Greene was Catholic, and his “serious” novels deals with the moral ambiguities of life as seen from a Christian perspective but without glib answers. This aspect is very visible in The End of the Affair, in fact, Christian choices are the theme and essence of the book.

So that I won’t be a “spoiler,” since I know some members of Riverwood who want to read this book, I’ll quote this passage without much accompanting information about character, plot, etc. It is from a letter one character writes to another and it speaks of conversion:

What’s the use? I believe there’s a God—I believe the whole bag of tricks, there’s nothing I don’t believe. They could subdivide the Trinty into a dozen parts and I’d believe. They could dig up reconds that proved Christ had been invented by Pilate to get himself promoted and I’d believe just the same. I’ve caught belief like a disease. I’ve fallen into belief like I fell in love. I’ve never loved before as I love you and I’ve never believed before as I believe now.

As we considered this passage, it was said that it spoke strongly of both election and irresistible grace, a very “reformed” position from a practicing Catholic. Or, to put it another way, Truth is Truth.

General Theology

Really, really, really Fallen….

by Jimmy Hopper

Last Tuesday I had the pleasure of giving the morning devotional to the Riverwood Classical School and, using the week’s Catechism question as a guide, talked about the Fall of man. Afterward, I was thinking about the Fall in light of a book I was reading the previous week. It was the second volume in Rick Atkinson’s trilogy about the American army in Europe in WWII, The Day of Battle and it focused on the Sicilian and Italian campaigns in 1943-44. As a result of this juxtaposition of book and devotional; it crossed my mind how inadequate, although totally valid, my illustrations of obedience to parents, etc. from the devotional were to the idea of fallen man and the truth of how far man fell from Grace. I suppose, in a sense, war is the ultimate example and result of fallenness.

To define the situation, it was determined to invade Sicily after the victory at El Alamein had driven the Germans from Africa. The Sicilian invasion was bloody but relatively quick and the British and American armies invaded Italy at Salerno, and began fighting an entrenched, well trained, disciplined, ruthless and barbaric army . This was the war of Ernie Pyle, the brilliant journalist who brought the war to life for millions and Bill Mauldin, the cartoonist whose creations, “Willie and Joe” became synonomous with the “GI,” the American soldier. The way north bogged down at Cassino after a disasterous attempt to attack accross the Rapido River on the German Gustav line. Winter came and the misery increased (I discovered that Rome is the same latitude as Chicago) as did the savagery. There was an invasion at Anzio to attempt to break the stalement but this bogged down also scant miles from the beach at the Pontine marshes. The two armies settled in to killing each other and the civilians who happened to be unlucky enough to be in the villages that sheltered the armies. The Americans that survived became what they were intended to become; instinctive killers forged by survival instincts developed under inhumane conditions. The Germans had long since reached this point.

The stalemate was eventually broken by the “weight of metal” thrown at the German lines as more and more bombs and weaponry, and men, became available to the allies. 750 tons of bombs and 200,000 artillery shells were dropped on the village of Cassino in six hours before the final assualt. Entire villages were reduced to rubble and when the Germans evacuated Naples, they destroyed infrastructure and booby trapped public buildings to explode after the Allied armies arrived. Many of the treasures of history and antiquity were destroyed by the fighting.

Rome was taken June 5, 1944, one day before the Normandy invasion. The Italian campaign had cost 312,000 Allied casulties and 435,000 German casualities. You would have to read the account to understand the barbarism and horror as these men (and civilians) faced the unleashing of modern weapons of war. Some of the scenes Atkinson described were simply painful to read.

So this too was the fallen world, inexplicable in its total fallenness, at least to a class of lovely and fresh faced children in the Riverwood Classical School. But it is not unexplainable because the root cause of the disobedience of children and war are identical. May these children never have to face war to this degree, but they, as do all men and women, will face the reality of their own sin and fallenness.

General Theology

But We Are Right, Right?

by Tim Lien

Quotation from Douglas Wilson:

But we do not demand that they trust in “living in this certain way” for their justification. We demand the opposite. We require them to not trust in what they are doing, and we also teach them not to trust in what they are saying. We teach them to trust in Christ, not to trust in themselves trusting in Christ. We do call upon them to confess their faith in Jesus alone. This is what we teach them to do, and it is how we lead them. What we do not do is tell them that their salvation hinges on whether they say the magic words just right, or have their face looking “just so” while they say it. We don’t tell them that they are apostate if they get some detail about justification wrong. To do so would be for us to deny sola fide.

Church and Worship

From the Mud Room to the Library

by Blake Johnson

In an upcoming Salt and Light article, I will be addressing the issue of how we as Reformed and Presbyterian Christians should interact with the wider Christian world. Reformed Christians in America have an upleasant history infighting and sectarianism (see Machen’s Warrior Children). In my view, whatever one thinks about the Federal Vision in all its particulars, a consistent and positive thrust of the movement has been the willingness to interact with those outside the relatively small Reformed world, and even smaller world of the Presbyterian Church in America. Presbyterian minister Doug Wilson made these instructive comments recently:

When C.S. Lewis wrote of mere Christianity, he used the image of the hallways of a great house. He emphasized that it was in the rooms that one slept, took one’s meals, visited with family and friends, and so on. All the action took place in the rooms — and that is where my Reformed identity resides. That’s where I keep my books, and my slippers, and my laptop. But it is possible (and desirable) to go out into the hallway from time to time and fellowship with the other residents of this great house. I can do that without forgetting where my bed is, and without trying to get all the Christians to sleep in the hallways. When a particular tradition becomes in-grown it is easy to think that “this room” is the only room where anything worthwhile is going on. One of points of FV catholicity is that we don’t think this is true — God is doing wonderful things in other parts of the house. This has been taken (and ought not to have been taken) as us expressing a desire to move out of our Reformed library with its fat books and burnished leather chairs, and tobacco, and Drambuie on the rocks, and carpet you could lose a shoe in. So don’t get me wrong. I like it here and have no intention of moving out — although I still reserve the right to get chased out. But I can still be grateful for those Campus Crusade guys staffing the mud room, getting new people into the house, and making it possible for them to eventually make their way to the library.

The context may be found here. Healthy ecumenism is not coming together to feel good about coming together. Healthy ecumenism is coming together around the truth of the gospel that has been believed by all Christians everywhere at all times.

Like Wilson, I like our room. When my friends in the room lock the door, however, and tell me I can’t take a stroll down the hall to borrow a book from another room, or perhaps borrow an insight from another room, I think we are dealing with an incredibly historical naivety and ridiculous insularity. Let’s continue to decorate the room and invite others in, but for the love of all that’s good, let’s keep the door open.

General Theology

Mutual Defenestration in the PCA

by Blake Johnson

Prof. Reggie Kidd of Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando has some very helpful thoughts on the present state of theological discourse in the PCA.

Click here.

General Theology

Exporting Prosperity

by Tim Lien

“Tim, why do preach pain so much? Tim, why do your sermons seem so heavy on suffering?”

An email has lingered in my inbox for quite some time, containing a link to John Piper preaching in Birmingham. How does the Reformed Gospel differ from Creflo Dollar, Benny Hinn, Paul Crouch, Joel Osteen, Robert Tilton and every other charletan shyster? Listen to this. (It is precisely 3 minutes long.)

General Theology

Carrie Nation Defeated in Athens

by Clay Staggs

At the risk of seeming obsessed with this topic, I just had to post this, for two reasons, really. First, it’s a defeat for prohibitionism, which I say is a good thing. Second, it’s too shining an example of works theology to leave alone.

On Tuesday of this week, the good folks in Athens, Alabama, held a referendum on whether to return the city to prohibition. Three or four years ago, Athens voted to go “wet.” Evidently, the “dry” forces got enough support to put the measure on the ballot again, hoping to undo the last vote.

The AP ran a story on this. You can read it here. It would seem that some of the local churches were behind the “dry” campaign. Get this:

The Rev. Eddie Gooch feels good about the chances of ending alcohol sales in Athens, but he isn’t taking any chances. A leader of the petition drive, Gooch urged members of his United Methodist Church to pray and fast on election day and the two days leading up to it. Church volunteers have sent thousands of letters and made phone calls encouraging people to vote “dry.”

Of all the things that a church could spend three days praying and fasting about! Reckon there’s been such prayer and fasting for the soldiers dying overseas or their families? How about the miners out in Utah who (apparently) died in the cave-in and their families? How about their fellow Christians in Sudan being murdered and enslaved by the Muslims? The persecution of Christians in China? Maybe they did, but somehow, I doubt it.

Confronted with the possible loss of an upscale restaurant that moved to Athens from a neighboring dry city so that they could sell alcohol, and the loss of tax revenue:

Gooch isn’t worried about the city losing businesses or tax revenues if alcohol sales are banned. Normal economic growth and God will make up any difference if residents dump the bottle, he said. “We believe that God will honor and bless our city,” Gooch said.

If there was ever a better example of viewing God as a vending machine, I’d like to see it. This would be bad theology even if the activity being shunned was sinful. Rev. Gooch seems to think that if we behave, God will respond by bestowing blessing. I’d like to see Rev. Gooch explain Job’s plight in light of Job 1:1:

In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.

Now see, since Job was upright and shunned evil (I’m sure, in Rev. Gooch’s world, Job would have voted dry), Rev. Gooch might expect Job to have been “honor[ed] and bless[ed]” by God. Yet it didn’t quite work out that way, did it?

I might add that several astute commenters on the AP story linked above also noted more than a bit of hypocrisy on the church’s part, citing Jesus turning the water to wine and the use of wine in the last supper.

Now, unlike my previous Carrie Nation posts, this one has an ending a bit more to my liking. Carrie went down at the ballot box in Athens, 68/32. So that’s good news.

However, I think the high profile of the churches involved here and the religious overtones they brought to this political matter has done much to reinforce the stereotype of hypocritical Christianity. Here’s commenter GunOwnerDan:

Why are so many “crhistians” [sic] such total hypocrites? Jesus, their “lord and savior” was a wine-maker. According to the Bible, Jesus actually turned water into WINE!

Dan doesn’t seem like a believer, but it’s hard to fault his analysis.

So one step forward on the political side, but two steps back for the church.

General Theology

Deaths in our Family

by Jimmy Hopper

I have had our Pastor’s sermon last Sunday on death and resurrection for the Christian very much on my mind. I tend to think about death more (I am almost 70!) but I’m not sure that’s the real reason. Its inevitability is such a part of life and you consciously avoid it for much of your life so at some point, you intellectually almost have to consider it. Anyway, Tim’s great sermon was based on 1st. Thessalonians 4:13 and following and spoke of how the Christian was not to be ignorant of what would happen but was to understand and be comforted and encouraged.

As sometimes happens, I was reading a book about death in its human ramifications and a particular passage spoke to the idea of the non-believer as he looks at the existence of God in the face of human death. The book is A Death in the Family by James Agee. It is a deeply moving novel about a family in Knoxville, TN in which the husband and father of two small children is killed in an automobile accident in 1915. I want to quote a portion of it but I’ll have to set the scene so bear with me.

In this scene, the wife’s family is gathered at her house after the news came. There are several members of the family there but the ones who speak in this scene are as follows: the wife is Mary, known as “Poll” to her father, Joel. Her aunt, Hannah, is there and she is Joel’s sister. Mary and Hannah are devout Catholic Christians. Joel is an agnostic. It is very late, around three AM. As this conversation begins, the Christians in the room have just had a very strong premonition that the husband’s spirit was there for a few minutes. All had the premonition seperately, without telling each other. Even Mary’s mother, who is almost deaf, felt it. They have investigated and now it has passed and they are speaking of the premonition and the supernatural:

Again they were thoughfully silent, and into this silence Joel spoke quietly, “I…don’t….know. I….just….don’t….know. Every bit of gumption I’ve got tells me it’s impossible, but if this kind of thing is so, it isn’t with gumption that you see it is. I….just….don’t….know. If you’re right, and I’m wrong, then chances are you’re right about the whole business, God, and the whole crew. And in that case, I’m just a plain damned fool. But if I can’t trust my common sense—I know it’s nothing much, Poll, but it’s all I’ve got. If I can’t trust that, what in hell can I trust! God, you’n Hannnah would say. Far as I’m concerned, it’s out of the question.”

“Why, Joel?” Hannah asked.

“II doesn’t seem to embarrass your idea of common sense, or Poll’s, and for that matter I’m making no reflections. You’re got plenty of gumption. But how can you reconcile the two, I can’t see.”

“It takes faith, Papa,” Mary said gently.

“That’s the word. That’s the one that makes a mess of everything, for’s I’m concerned. Bounces up like a jack-in-the-box. Solves everything. Well, it doesn’t solve anything for me, for I haven’t got any.Wouldn’t hurt it if I had. Don’t believe in it.. Not for me. I’m not exactly an atheist, you know. Least I don’t suppose I am. Seems as unfounded to me to say there isn’t a God as to say there is. You can’t prove it either way. But that’s it: I’ve got to have proof. All I can say is, I hope you’re wrong but I just don’t know.”

Joel can go to no door in Knoxville and knock and God will come out to meet him, giving him the “proof” that he thinks he needs and in that sense, we are bound by faith. But it is not a faith that is without reason. Paul wrote the words to the Thessalonians knowing, as an eyewitness and knowing hundreds of other eyewitnesses that Jesus had been crucified and was resurrected. Paul, and thousands of others gave up everything; even to dying a terrible death, because they knew the truth. Paul’s writings, and the Gospels, are historical documents, written by men who would have found it much easier to deny and walk around in a fog about the whole matter. The existence of God can’t be proven empirically, but our faith isn’t a jack-in-a-box that we pop up when the questions get hard either. Joel’s “I hope it isn’t true” is one of the saddest statements a man can make.

Which brings me back to the Christian and death. He knows it is all true and as Tim preached so wonderfully and so fervantly last Snday; because it is true, nothing else matters. Death doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter even a little bit, neither the dying nor the state of death, not as much as my Mother would have said, “a hill of beans.” To the Christian, secure and triumphant in the resurrection of our Lord, He is all that matters. Deaths in our family, the family of God, are vastly different from other deaths.

General Theology

“What do you do with Jesus?”

by Clay Staggs

Anybody casually reading my writing on this blog might really think that I have it in for the Episcopal Church USA. I really don’t, but they do seem to be a perfect example of where liberal mainline Christianity is off the tracks. But today’s installment shows that they are not only off the track, but the train has plunged off the cliff, exploded, and the wreckage is smoldering.

Now, some of you, no matter how well you know me and trust me, will nevertheless have to click the link to be sure that I’m not making up something this completely ridiculous. That’s okay, though, because when my friend Herb Saunders [hat tip] sent this to me, as much as I trust Herb, I had to read it for myself to believe it.

Here goes: an Episcopal priest of some 20 years, Rev. Ann Holmes Redding, has become a muslim - but without leaving the priesthood or the church. She’s claims to be BOTH a Christian and a muslim. You can read the whole story here.

There’s so much to write about, one hardly knows where to begin. I’ll start by commending Kurt Fredrickson of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, whom the articles quotes, for asking the blazingly obvious question that seems to not bother Rev. Redding:

“There are tenets of the faiths that are very, very different,” said Kurt Fredrickson, director of the doctor of ministry program at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif. “The most basic would be: What do you do with Jesus?”

Indeed. What do you do with Jesus? Rev. Redding’s answer is the most wonderful illustration of the absolute intellectual bankruptcy of postmodern relativism:

Redding doesn’t feel she has to resolve all the contradictions. People within one religion can’t even agree on all the details, she said. “So why would I spend time to try to reconcile all of Christian belief with all of Islam? “At the most basic level, I understand the two religions to be compatible. That’s all I need.” … “It wasn’t about intellect,” she said. “All I know is the calling of my heart to Islam was very much something about my identity and who I am supposed to be.

Isn’t it wonderful how relativism makes virtue of intellectual laziness?

And, lest you wonder about the ECUSA’s position on all this, when asked, they said that it was up to her bishop, who opined as follows:

Redding’s bishop, the Rt. Rev. Vincent Warner, says he accepts Redding as an Episcopal priest and a Muslim, and that he finds the interfaith possibilities exciting.

So, there you have it. It’s “exciting” to the powers that be in the ECUSA.

It is absolutely no wonder that the African branches of the Anglican Communion consider the US to be apostate and in need of conversion. I suggest they get a missionary out to Seattle ASAP.

General Theology

Church on the Cross

by Blake Johnson

The Cross intersects the past, present, and future. The finished work of Christ in the past is the basis for our present justification, anticipating God’s ultimate verdict in the future that we are indeed righteous. In a similar way, the cross stretches us from the past to the present to the future in the way we conceive the Church. We hold fast to the traditions passed down to us, but we also stand ready to engage the future.

Peter Leithart has some helpful comments in this regard:

According to Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy’s cross of reality, individuals are always stretched out on a cross, in four directions - to the past and to the future, to the inside and to the outside. Growth and maturity come when we endure the cross in faith that when we are torn to pieces we will yet be revived, that our death on the cross of reality is the gateway to life. Like Jesus, we are glorified through the cross. Churches are also on the cross. Churches are called to remain faithful to the past while also boldly embracing the novelty of the future; called to cultivate a distinctive language and culture inside the community, while also listening attentively to voices from outside. Life would be much easier if we could ignore one or the other poles of the cross. Life would be much easier if we could retreat to a pure inside and ignore the outside; life would be much easier if we could rest in the securities of the past rather than face the uncertainties of the future.

May Riverwood be a church on the Cross.

General Theology

Peace, Purity, and the PCA

by Blake Johnson

This week the PCA (our denomination) will meet for its annual General Assembly. Each year Ruling Elders and Teaching Elders from our churches congregate to discuss and deliberate various theological, cultural, and practical issues facing our denomination.

The PCA has enjoyed much growth in recent years while remaining faithful to the Gospel and historic Christian orthodoxy. We also are a “big-tent” denomination including inner city church plants in needy areas, downtown high-churches, suburban mega-churches, country parishes, and everything in between. With such a healthy diversity, obviously our ministers and leaders do not agree on every jot and tittle of theology. That is why our denomination practices “good-faith subscription.” Members and ministers do not have to agree on particular matters that are unclear or commonly disputed in our Confession of Faith.

Many faithful men of God in the PCA are rightfully concerned to protect the purity of the church against threats to the gospel. Unfortunately, though, Presbyterians have an unpleasant track record of infighting, and thus splintering all in the name of “the Gospel.” While we should be eager to protect the purity of the church, we should also be eager to protect the unity of the church.

As the General Assembly meets this week, please pray for our elders and ministers to wisely carryout the business of our denomination in a way that preserves the unity and peace of the PCA.

General Theology

Peace, Purity, and the PCA

by Blake Johnson

This week the PCA (our denomination) will meet for its annual General Assembly. Each year Ruling Elders and Teaching Elders from our churches congregate to discuss and deliberate various theological, cultural, and practical issues facing our denomination.

The PCA has enjoyed much growth in recent years while remaining faithful to the Gospel and historic Christian orthodoxy. We also are a “big-tent” denomination including inner city church plants in needy areas, downtown high-churches, suburban mega-churches, country parishes, and everything in between. With such a healthy diversity, obviously our ministers and leaders do not agree on every jot and tittle of theology. That is why our denomination practices “good-faith subscription.” Members and ministers do not have to agree on particular matters that are unclear or commonly disputed in our Confession of Faith.

Many faithful men of God in the PCA are rightfully concerned to protect the purity of the church against threats to the gospel. Unfortunately, though, Presbyterians have an unpleasant track record of infighting, and thus splintering all in the name of “the Gospel.” While we should be eager to protect the purity of the church, we should also be eager to protect the unity of the church.

As the General Assembly meets this week, please pray for our elders and ministers to wisely carryout the business of our denomination in a way that preserves the unity and peace of the PCA.

General Theology

The Great God Debate

by Clay Staggs

Hugh Hewitt, whose blog I have plugged several times before, has a fantastic exchange on his site this morning. He hosts a radio show (which, unfortunately is not carried by any local station) and on yesterday’s program he hosted a debate which he called “The Great God Debate.”

On the non-believer side was Christopher Hitchens. Hitchens is an atheist liberal (his latest book is an argument for atheism entitled God is not Great). However, his liberalism is not of the anti-war peacenik kook variety. He is very pro-US in the war and is quite eloquent in his defense of Western Civilization, especially against the threat of Islamofascism. So, even though I don’t agree with him on religion, he’s not, to use Jean Kirpatrick’s formulation, a “blame America first” type.

On the believer side is Mark D. Roberts, whose blog I read occasionally as well. Roberts is the senior pastor of First Pres. in Irvine, CA (Kimberly’s hometown). Despite being PCUSA, he’s very conservative in his theological views, and I would describe him, from what I’ve read, as pretty solidly reformed. He’s got a new book out, which is a defense of the reliability of the Gospels historically, called Can We Trust the Gospels?

Both men debating are extremely bright and articulate, despite how I may disagree with Hitchens. I’ve only made it through the first exchange (the entire transcript covers the three-hour radio show), but it looks like great reading. I recommend it highly. Go here and enjoy!

General Theology

Joel Osteen and the Miracle of an Umbrella

by Matt Tootle

mir•a•cle (mĭr’ə-kəl)
n.
An event that appears inexplicable by the laws of nature and so is held to be supernatural in origin or an act of God.

While in a hotel recently, I was flipping television channels and landed on the preaching of Joel Osteen. His sermon topic was how to be a miracle in someone’s life. Osteen described how he often buys dinner for people he sees in restaurants, buys shoes for needy kids, and even stopped his car one day to offer his umbrella to some ladies walking in the rain. He described all these acts as being miracles in the recipients’ lives. You and I too can produce miracles in others’ lives, if we simply follow Osteen’s lead. I’d love to spend time discussing how this is a totally inappropriate use of the word “miracle”, but the punch line came later on.

Osteen explained if you want to “get on God’s good side” you will be a giver to others. Get on God’s good side? Is that all it takes? Why in the world did Jesus come to Earth and die the death He did if I can get on God’s good side by simply sharing my umbrella? This sounded so strangely opposite to what Tim preached a few weeks ago. There is nothing wrong with buying dinner for someone…unless I am doing it to get on God’s good side. Then it becomes disgusting. Oh how I wanted to rail on Osteen. I so badly wanted to send him an email listing all the ways his theology was so screwed up – until I remembered the things I do to make God like me. I found myself in a strange place. My blood was boiling over what I heard Osteen say, but I also knew that I still put on my costume and perform to gain God’s approval.

I think I was finally able to sleep when I realized that I truly do not believe I must, or even can, do anything to get on God’s good side. The only reason I am on His good side is because of His unfathomable grace…but I really am there, whether or not I share my umbrella. Yes, I sometimes forget this beautiful reality and try to convince God to accept me. But again, through His grace and mercy, I am reminded that He truly does like me.

General Theology

Rescue from the South

by Clay Staggs

I ran across two interesting comments on National Review’s blog, The Corner. Here’s the first, by Mark Krikorian:

The head of the Episcopal Church, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, is complaining about Nigerian Anglican bishops coming to Virginia this weekend to formally install the head of the conservative breakaway denomination in this country. Here's what she said: "Such action would violate the ancient customs of the church."

I kid you not. The female head of a church with a practicing homosexual bishop planning to "marry" his lover, a church that could accept into seminary the adulterous homosexual governor of New Jersey, a church that embraces splitting open babies' skulls and vacuuming their brains out, is complaining about violating ancient customs? Wow.

Then the follow up from Mark Steyn, one of my favorite writers in the commentary business today:

Mark, what’s interesting about the Episcopal breakaway faction in the US is the indestructible assumption of the Presiding Bishop and her colleagues that they are the mainstream and the inevitable progressive future, and that the Nigerian bishops are the fringe and the doomed reactionary past. On any Sunday morning, there are more Anglicans in the pews in Nigeria than in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada combined. So much for head office.

If the Anglican Communion has a future, it won’t be thanks to Bishop Katharine Jefforts Schori and the predictably reductive preoccupations of her ministry.

There’s been a good bit of discussion on this blog recently about the state of modern Christendom. One undeniable fact is that, geographically, the center of gravity in the Christian world is shifting south. Isn’t it interesting that the very folks who were colonized and converted, are the ones to whom it is falling to salvage the wreckage of modern Western Christianity?

General Theology

Hunger

by Jimmy Hopper

Holy Week is almost always the most moving and meaningful time at most churches but last week at Riverwood was especially so for me. First there was the service and sermon on Palm Sunday on the humility of Christ as He approached Jerusalem and His (wonderful!) mission. Then there was the always special Maundy Thursday service, where we take Communion on the night of the first Communion and this year heard of our family, the family of God; and of family meals and family values. Finally, Easter Sunday; Resurrection Day, and Tim spoke of its uniqueness in all of history, the Hinge of History was his sermon title; the most important day in all of history to each of us individually, and it happened two millenia ago. Again we met together at the table of our Lord and celebrated His (and our) triumph over our enemies and over ourselves.

Something that crossed my mind, however, concerned the two Communion services less than three days apart. I hadn’t thought of it earlier even knowing they were planned, but the closeness of the two services didn’t cause any feeling of stale repetition; it had the absolute opposite effect. Looking back on it, there was a sense of hunger for the Sunday Communion that came from the Thursday night service. The sweetness of the one led to anticipation of the other, and I caught myself on Sunday morning yearning for the mystical joy of being fed by the Lord. It was a far different feeling than the usual general forgetfulness that is typical when approaching first Sunday Communion. It is also something I would like very much to maintain in the future because the blessing of it was intense.

Politics

Doofus du Jour

by Clay Staggs

I’ve been paying attention to politics pretty much all of my adult life. I cannot remember a presidential campaign season starting so early or having as many doofus candidates as this one. But hey, lots of blogging material, right?

The doofus du jour is John Edwards. Let me supply some background here for readers with better things to do that read about this junk on a daily basis. (I know, it’s a sickness - I should seek treatment.)

Edwards is probably best known politically for being John Kerry’s running mate in 2004. On the stump, he argues that there are “two Americas” - one inhabited by the rich, with all sorts of comforts and luxuries, and the other inhabited by the poor, who endure something like the lives led by the Joads in the Grapes of Wrath to hear Edwards tell it. You can read his campaign’s position on ending poverty ( - really!) here.

He’s got something of a prima donna reputation, though. Rush Limbaugh mockingly refers to him as the Breck girl. (College students and younger: google that, you’ll understand). It’s somewhat deserved, I think. Back in the 2004 campaign, a video surfaced on YouTube of Edwards fixing his hair before some event . It seemed to last an hour. You can see it, if you must, here.

John Edwards is a very wealthy man. He’s a plaintiff’s lawyer, and has made lots of money practicing law. Not knocking it, just pointing out a fact. By reputation, he was quite a good trial lawyer. Recently, he sunk some of his fortune into a new home. It’s 28,000+ square feet. It will be the most highly appraised piece of residential property in the county, according to local officials. You can read about the house (and see pictures of it) here. I suppose we know which of the two Americas he lives in.

Now, this might be bad enough, but to prove to you that I’m not calling Mr. Edwards a doof without just cause, consider his recent comments about how Jesus would view the whole “two Americas” that we have. Here’s an excerpt of his interview with BeliefNet:

What parts of American life do you think would most outrage Jesus?

Our selfishness. Our resort to war when it’s not necessary. I think that Jesus would be disappointed in our ignoring the plight of those around us who are suffering and our focus on our own selfish short-term needs. I think he would be appalled, actually.

You can read more here.

OK, so with all that background, rather than having me type in (more) sarcastic comments, I’m going to let cartoonist Sam Ryskind finish up.

General Theology

Open Thread

by Clay Staggs

A Baptist Church in Australia has posted a sign that says “Jesus Loves Osama.”

The full story is here. It has caused enough consternation that the PM of Australia has commented on it.

I have my own reaction to this, but I thought it might be more interesting to hear what the readers/commenters out there had to say. I’ll post my thoughts later.

What say you all?

2/8/07 ADDENDUM: I wanted to add my thoughts to this, now that Tim and Jimmy have so ably commented on the aspects of limited atonement that the sign presents. My impression was really more in line with what PM Howard pointed out. If you assume an Arminian mindset (which, as Tim & Jimmy pointed out, the sign does), then is it not incumbent on the Christian not to do anything to drive the unbeliever away from the Church?

Consider the non-believing family of an Australian soldier killed by the jihadists. What is their reaction to this sign to be? It seems reasonable to me that they react by saying that these church folks care more about the enemy than they do their own countrymen who have fallen at the hand of this enemy. If I were that family, I’d be thinking “so much for Christian compassion” and I’d probably conclude that my instincts that Christians are naive hypocrites were right.

So, in their Arminian world, they’ve alienated all those folks and Osama’s never even seen the silly sign since he’s in a cave somewhere in Pakistan, and is on record anyway as pretty firmly opposed to Christianity. So, even if you assume their worldview (which I don’t) then the sign still doesn’t make any sense.

General Theology

Mysterious Ways

by Clay Staggs

Every time that I think that the state of the church (the global church, I mean, not Riverwood) can’t get any worse, I read something like this.

It seems that a Church of England congregation in Lincoln, England will be hosting a “U2-charist,” which the article describes as “an adapted Holy Communion service that uses the Irish rock group’s best-selling songs in place of hymns.”

Just about everything that could be wrong about this is. Here are some quotes from the article. I dare anyone to find anything in these remotely touching on the glory of God, the grace of God, Jesus Christ, the Bible, or the Holy Spirit:

-“The event will focus on the Millennium Development Goals - targets set for the alleviation of world poverty”

-“The atmosphere will be further enhanced by a sophisticated lighting system that will pulse with the beat, and striking visual images of poverty and drought.”

-“It is also very important that we continue to try and find ways of worshipping that are surprising, challenging and fun.”

-“Rock music can be a vehicle of immense spirituality.”

-“The Millennium Development Goals are extremely important for the future of the world.”

Now, lest we tut-tut at the sorry state of the Church of England (true as that would be), consider the last line of the article:

“The idea of a “U2-charist” was first created in the US with the first such service held there in 2005.”

On a theological level, I can’t help but believe that this all stems from the contemporary church’s overwhelming rejection of the doctrine of election. After all, if it’s up to man to go out and evangelize and convert the unbelievers, a U2-charist may not be all that far-fetched. After all, it’s easier to recruit with rock songs and snazzy light shows than with the truth about sin, redemption, grace, and the over-arching sovereignty of God. The problem with this approach, though, is that eventually the concert has to end. Then what?

General Theology

Falls Church Fallout

by Clay Staggs

Here’s a great post by a blogger who takes on the Washington Post over its characterization of her church, the Falls Church, which happens to have recently split with the ECUSA. Note that the Post actually manages to call Episcopalians the “frozen chosen.”

I think I’m offended - that’s us!!

Read the whole thing, as they say.

General Theology

A Riff on Alcatraz

by Jimmy Hopper

Last week Riverwood published a poem in the Reflections page of the bulletin that has fascinated and even haunted me. The poet is Sharon Olds and it can be found in her book, The Gold Cell. It’s title is Alcatraz and is printed below.

Alcatraz

When I was a girl, I knew I was a man

because they might send me to Alcatraz

and only men went to Alcatraz.

Every time we drove to the city I’d

see it there, white as a white

shark in the shark-rich Bay, the bars like

milk-white ribs. I knew I had pushed my

parents too far, my inner badness had

spread like ink and taken me over, I could

not control my terrible thoughts,

terrible looks, and they had often said

that they would send me there-maybe the very next

time I spilled my milk, Ala

Cazam, the iron doors would slam, I’d be

there where I belonged, a girl-faced man in the

prison no one had escaped from. I did not

fear the other prisoners,

I knew who they were, men like me who had

spilled their milk one time too many,

not been able to curb their thoughts—

what I feared was the horror of the circles: circle of

sky around the earth, circle of

land around the Bay, circle of

water around the island, circle of

sharks around the shore, circle of

outer walls, inner walls,

iron girders, steel bars,

circle of my cell around me, and there at the

center, the glass of milk AND the guard’s

eyes upon me as I reached out for it.

My first exposure to this was on my car radio and Garrison Keillor reading it on his Writer’s Almanac program. I rushed to the computer and found it; reading and then hearing it again. I was amazed at the imagery and form, particularly from a poet whose name I did not know; and, if she is secular rather than Christian, the poem really is an amazing document in that it describes a totally Calvinistic view. However, on second thought, the Calvinistic/Christian view is the true view of the human condition, and is certainly accessible to poets.

In the poem, we see a young girl living in San Francisco whose parents tell her that when she does something wrong, does enough wrong, she will be sent to Alcatraz. She is sensitive (a poet to be) and when her parents drive to the city she can see the prison on its island in the bay. She sees herself as a (girl-faced) man, because she knows that she is guilty and only men are punished the way she has been told that she will be punished. The description of her “sins” is so accurate; “inner blackness had spread like ink and taken me over,” “terrible thoughts and terrible looks I could not control.” Then we have the brilliance of the small thing, spilling her milk, and we get the impression that her parents made a very large affair of every sin and shortcoming.

So she goes, in her mind, to Alcatraz. The magic words that send her, “Ala Cazam,” is split between two lines; the magic in the “Ala” and the slam of the iron door almost echoes in the “Cazam.” Here she is with her kind; with the sinners, those who do wrong and there is no fear of them. Her fear is inward, described as a series of ever decreasing circles, until it ends in the circle of the milk glass, and she is watched to see if she spills it. One of the images is the circle of sharks, and the prison itself is white in contrast to the inky badness in her; “a white shark in the shark rich bay.”

This is a very Biblical picture. The “badness” is inside; it is also outside in the tiniest of sins, even in spilling your milk. There is no hope for perfection, no chance to measure up to your “parents” standard. The poem doesn’t address the answer, and rightly so; it is not a religious tract and would lose the power of its picture, but we, trapped in our circles, inside ourselves; knowing of our sin as she knows of her sin, have the Gospel and have redemption. We are the ones who will escape from the place “no one has ever escaped from.” We will never be trapped in the circle of sharks and the circle of ourselves and our guilt, but have been freed.

General Theology

Be Fruitful And Multiply, But Only If It Won’t Mean Taking More Than Your Share Of The Earth’s Resources

by Clay Staggs

I ran across this article by Mark Steyn, who I believe is one of the best opinion writers in the business. What I found fascinating about it was the quote from the newly installed presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church USA, Katharine Jefferts Schori. The original is on the NYT’s paid site, but here’s Steyn’s write-up, including the bishop’s quote:

Bishop Kate gave an interview to the New York Times revealing what passes for orthodoxy in this most flexible of faiths. She was asked a simple enough question: “How many members of the Episcopal Church are there?” “About 2.2 million,” replied the presiding bishop. “It used to be larger percentage-wise, but Episcopalians tend to be better educated and tend to reproduce at lower rates than other denominations.” This was a bit of a jaw-dropper even for a New York Times hackette, so, with vague memories of God saying something about going forth and multiplying floating around the back of her head, a bewildered Deborah Solomon said: “Episcopalians aren’t interested in replenishing their ranks by having children?” “No,” agreed Bishop Kate. “It’s probably the opposite. We encourage people to pay attention to the stewardship of the earth and not use more than their portion.”

Wow. I’ll leave aside for a moment the incredible arrogance of that statement and concentrate on its substantive implications. For a long time, I have thought that the ECUSA’s train was off the tracks, but I had no idea that it had come to this. It’s bad enough to completely abandon everything that your church has stood for theologically in some misguided attempt to curry favor with the sundry liberal interest groups (read: the world). However, consciously deciding to commit demographic suicide in the name of saving the planet is, well, just plain old crazy.

The argument has been made that political liberals (and states with higher concentrations of them) have lower fertility rates and political conservatives (and their states) have higher fertility rates. Given the bishop’s comments, perhaps this trend extends to liberal and conservative Christianity too.

In my view, this is a sad, sad commentary on the state of mainline Christianity. In Tim’s sermon a couple of weeks ago, he said that God was terrible, but good. My perception is that liberal Christians, who believe that God is the exact opposite - some kindly celestial grandfather, but detached, uninvolved, and maybe even powerless over what happens on earth - don’t really want to bring children into the world as they see it. Those who hold to the terrible/good view, though, have less (or no) problem with this because they believe God’s promises, made to them and to their children - and that He has the power and the desire to carry those promises out.

Assume for a moment that the bishop’s comments are predictive of the demographic future of liberal mainline protestantism. Now apply a Darwinian survival-of-the-fittest analysis to the overall protestant church in the US. If those that are reproducing hold to a more orthodox Christianity and those who fail to reproduce are theological liberals, given that the liberal mainline denominations aren’t adding members from the outside, what is the long-term viability of the mainline protestant denominations in the US?

General Theology

Status

by Jimmy Hopper

This morning at 7 AM I was on the RiverWalk with two excited Shelties, walking northeast toward the morning directly beside the Warrior River. It was partly sunny, cool, and absolutely glorious; with the river running strongly to the southwest, the wind rippling it, and the trees in Fall colors. As is usually the case on Monday, I was considering the previous Sunday worship as I walked, since the walk has become an occasional prayer and devotion time. Because of the beautiful installation service on Sunday evening, there was a lot to consider.

Tim had preached in Philippians 3; “Expatriates in the Land of the Belly God,” and had spoken of Christians being set apart and living for different goals than those who lived for a materialistic filling of appetites. Dr. Kay preached from Mark 16 on Christ’s ascension, and on how our future, as God’s children, was being prepared for us even now by the Savior. Then Kevin Ball, in a remarkble few minutes, gave Tim and the Congregation their respective charge from Malachi 3. He spoke of the proud and arrogant, who spoke out against God and said that they had nothing to gain by worshipping Him and how they seemed to proper. He then spoke of the believers of his day who feared the Lord and who joined together to worship and honor Him. A “scroll of Rememberance” was made by them in the presence of the Lord. Of these, God said that He would make them His “treasured possession” in the day of judgment and that men would again see the difference “between those who serve God and those who don’t.” His charge was that when our church wasn’t perfect, Tim was to remember that we were God’s treasured possession; and that when Tim wasn’t perfect, the Church was to remember that he and his family were God’s treasured possession. Kevin’s charge and Tim’s sermon were on much the same theme and I contemplated this on my walk.

About that time, the wind rose and the tops of the trees began to move and we were suddenly standing in a rain of golden leaves as the wind loosened them and swirled them around us. The dogs stood looking, almost rapt, it seemed, at the beauty of the leaves falling around us with the sun shining through them in the woods by the river. I was certainly enraptured with this coming on thoughts of our worship.

It lasted several minutes, and when the wind died down again, I considered my estate, my status in the great scheme of things. God has given to me knowledge of Him; both in worship and in the river and the wind. He has given me a wife that I love, my very own “treasured possession.” He has given me children, godly friends, and a “family” in Him at Riverwood, a place that holds Him and His Gospel sacred and holy. But most of all, I know that I am His very own “treasured possession,” that the God of all things and all creation knows me and cherishes me; which is surely the most incredible fact in all of history. It is a high status indeed. Standing there, in that moment, I fully understood the peace Paul spoke of ” that transcends all understanding.”

General Theology

From A Distance

by Clay Staggs

There’s a Bette Middler song by that title that suggests that God is merely watching what we’re doing down here on earth “from a distance.” (Bryan Bond, are you out there?)

Apparently, according to a recent Harris Poll, that’s the most prevalent belief among Americans about what God does. 44% agreed with that view, whereas only 29% believed that God controls events on Earth.

There are some other disturbing findings in the poll, reflecting the sorry state of the Church today. And though I think it’s indisputable that the Church is doing an abysmal job of educating its members (or even knowing what it stands for), and needs to do much, much, better, that’s really nothing new, is it? After all, the people God has chosen have always wandered. I’m reminded about God’s telling Hosea to go and take an adulterous wife (See Hosea 1) as an illustration of this.

It also reminds me of Jimmy’s excellent post yesterday. God really does choose the unlovely, low, and unexpected to be His, be it a tiny nothing of a planet in the vastness of the universe, or an unfaithful, wrong-headed, and disbelieving Church.

General Theology

The Center of Creation

by Jimmy Hopper

In the extraordinary Sunday School series now playing at Riverwood, Faith and Science, Bob Thornton and Allen Powers spoke of the time in which it was proven that the universe didn’t revolve around the earth, as the religious dogma of the day believed. In fact, science now speaks of the complete insignificance of the earth; a dot of protoplasm swimming in the Pacific Ocean. Science says that there are probably many earths which support life, and the entertainment world has certainly bought into this idea, from Superman to Star Wars to the X-Files. Even C. S. Lewis conceded this possibility with his space series but indicated that, if they exist, God created them for His own glory even as He did our earth. Recently I came across a fantastic picture from the NASA web site that would seem to indicate the rather pitiful insignificance of the earth in the vast oceans of space.

This is a picture of an eclispe of the Sun by Saturn. It was taken from the Cassini space probe and it outlines the incredible beauty of the rings. As beautiful as it is (“The heavens declare the Glory of God”, I thought); one of the most interesting things about it is that it is a view of earth from behind Saturn. Look closely at the upper left outer ring of Saturn and you will see an infintesimal little light blue dot. This is our earth that Christians believe was created by God and upon whom live His chosen people. It could not possibility be more insignificant, could it?

The truth is that the world really is the center of the universe, the reason for its existence. No, the universe doesn’t physically revolve around the earth, as was believed in the Dark Ages, but the ordered beauty of the heavens does exist because the earth exists. And the earth exists because God conceived of and created it as a platform for our existence. If you are a Christian, the smallness of the earth in the vastness of the universe is a matter of joy and delight. It speaks of our importance, His people’s importance, in His eyes. This is the God who “Chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; the weak to shame the strong; the lowly, the despised, the things that are not to shame the things that are.” Man has determined the vastness and the power of the universe, and despises the lowliness of the earth and the God that made it; and yet this claim will also be shamed.

In his book, “Orthodoxy,” G.K. Chesterton ends with the idea that God has hidden something that He hasn’t revealed in any place. He revealed many things through Jesus’ incarnation but hid this from our view. Chesterton wonders if the hidden thing wasn’t God’s mirth. If Chesterton is right, this idea, a source of pride to men who think they understand; this idea of the unimportance of earth and of man almost appears to be a manifestation of God’s mirth.

Books

The Monster of Me

by Tim Lien

There are many of you that know that I am currently preaching through the epistle of Philippians. A condensed summary of Saint Paul’s letter can be expressed with, “joy in suffering.” To accompany my sermons with illustrations, I started reading Elie Wiesel’s trilogy about the Jewish Holocaust during WWII. “Certainly,” I thought, “these horrific accounts will supply my need for illustrations that depict true suffering.” This past week I finally finished the third installment. (Book 1: Night, Book 2: Dawn, Book 3: The Accident)

As I was reading Night, I noticed that I had a wincing expectation for the graphic and horrible. I knew the Nazi concentration camps were ghastly libraries of sordid stories—I just needed solid facts, names, and eyewitness accounts to confirm this. All of the stories made me sick, sad, and angry. But I knew they would.

Nothing, however, prepared me for the hollow aching void I felt after I finished The Accident. It is a cruel, hopeless, and penetrating observation into the soul of man. Wiesel’s desperation with humanity, the inaction/non-existence of God, and final observations of meaning in the midst of depravity—lead him to a restrained and minimal hedonism found in friendship and “lies that breed true happiness.”

But the haunting of Wiesel is what haunted me after I had closed the cover. He writes that the survivors of the holocaust did not use their freedom to punish and hate the Germans. Rather, these “living dead,” who could show no capacity for truly living, were more saturated with the guilt, shame, and debasement that occurred within their own souls. They were consumed with self-hatred for every act they performed to protect their own lives. Wiesel mercilessly and accurately reveals the internal state of every “normal” human being. (And not the sadistic victimizer, but the victim!) And then he stops. No solutions. He offers only philosophical silence.

The lingering effects of Wiesel’s trilogy have been brutally helpful, in that, I have been reflecting long on the nature of my own heart. Of course, I have heard it said: “We are no different from Hitler, save the blood of Christ.” But embedded in those self-effacing statements is the assumption that we, too, are capable of atrocities given the same circumstances. However, Wiesel coldly and consistently points out that the human heart is the same under normal, urbane, educated, and cosmopolitan influences. The acts that were constantly relived with cold sweats and nightmares came from quiet, peaceful, small-town people. In other words they came from me, you, and the sweet lady up the street. And this is where Wiesel’s scathing blade cuts the deepest, leaving little hope for humanity and even less for life.

But as a believer in Christ as Messiah, I think that this is precisely where the Gospel is given any incredulous magnitude: when we see the great depths of the human capacity to manifest evil, while simultaneously seeing the hope granted by Christ to make us clean. Being able to say to the man who beat an old man to death for a piece of bread: “Believe, and you are righteous” To the men who pitched babies into the air for Nazi target practice: “Believe, and you are righteous.” To the man who wrung his own crying baby’s head off to protect his family from being discovered: “Believe, and you are righteous—your sins are no more.” To the girls tortured as sex slaves at the age of 12: “Believe, you are clean, virginal, and righteous.”

General Theology

Identity Crisis

by Clay Staggs

One of the frequent themes that I hear in the preaching at Riverwood is our identity as Christians. Refreshingly, yesterday, the pope even got in on the act, urging Christians not to give up their unique identity for the sake of dialogue with other religions, which Reuters obligingly reads as Muslims.

This story both heartened and depressed me. On the one hand, it is a good thing to see the pope take such a stand. On the other hand, what a shame that any Christian thinks it necessary to give up our unique identity to engage the world and the adherents of other religions.

Undoubtedly, there is a political and theological angle to this. Many liberal theologians and liberal politicans believe that orthodox Christians’ claim to exclusivity of salvation is dangerous and arrogant.

It reminded me of an article that I read in USA Today a while back about three women, one Jew, one Christian, and one Muslim, who came together to discuss their various faiths. They called it the Faith Club, and wrote a book about it. The full article is here.

What got me was the quote at the end:

For anyone who reads the Quran or the Bible literally, rather than metaphorically or in cultural context, the women say, their views will be too liberal. For people who believe there is exactly one way to one heaven, described and delineated only by their own faith, The Faith Club may not offer a template. Yet to them, the women all offer a quote from Idliby’s imam, the prayer leader where she worships: “There is no temporal judge of faith on this earth.”

When Jesus Christ says that no one comes to the Father except through Him, I don’t know how to take that metaphorically or in cultural context. Moreover, there’s no reason that any Christian should take it at other than face value. After all, it’s pretty clear.

It’s good to see that this pope may not fall into the “Faith Club” muddle.

General Theology

Point of the Sword

by Clay Staggs

I’ve been thinking for awhile about the Fox News Channel Reporter, Steve Centanni, and his cameraman, Olaf Wiig, who were captured in Gaza a few weeks ago. Thankfully, they were eventually released. What has been on my mind is the way that they were forced to convert to Islam prior to their release, and the fact that this “conversion” was videotaped and released to the world. You can still see it on YouTube here.

I began to write this entry a few days ago with the idea that we in the West really don’t understand the nature of our enemies. However, I scrapped that entry and rewrote it because what we really don’t understand is ourselves and our fundamental natures.

I was puzzled that no one seemed bothered by these men’s forced conversions. A friend at work explained that this was because everyone knew it was fake. My friend is exactly correct. In point of fact, the kidnappers knew it was fake too. So why go through the bother?

Because Islam is a religion of works, not grace. In their theological world, converting at the point of the sword, no matter how insincere it may be, earns you religious brownie points. We look at the video and shrug it off as silly propaganda. What we in the West fail to understand (not simply acknowledge; I mean truly internalize) is that for radical Islamists, earning your way into heaven is a deadly serious business.

So why don’t we get it? I believe that we don’t get it because we can’t comprehend someone believing that forcing conversions at gunpoint or killing infidels earns you any favors from God. We in the Christian (or worse, post-modern) West can’t grasp that anyone would be that depraved. And that’s really the problem, isn’t it? We can’t believe that the enemy is that bad, because we really don’t believe that we’re that bad.

Politics

“Profound Moral Confusion”

by Clay Staggs

Hugh Hewitt is one of my favorite bloggers to read. He asserts this morning that the country, or at least certain parts of it, are profoundly morally confused regarding the decision by Harvard, the University of Virginia, and others to invite former Iranian president Khatami to speak. Now, I agree with Prof. Hewitt that this is tremendously wrong-headed and, indeed, morally confused. Sad to say, though, that I don’t find this terribly surprising for these big-name universities today. I almost expected as much, since academia seems to have long ago driven off the cliff of moral relativism.

However, what really shocked me was when I learned that Khatami will also be speaking at the National Cathedral. According to the Washington Times, his speech will focus “on how the three ‘Abrahamaic faiths’ — Christianity, Judaism and Islam — can work together for a Middle East peace.” Lest anyone doubt Khatami’s real views, according to the Harvard Crimson,

Khatami has criticized Israel in the past and once called it an “illegal state” and a “parasite in the heart of the Muslim world,” according to newspaper accounts from 2000 and 2001.

I’m really having a kind of a Bob Dole moment about this - where’s the outrage? I haven’t heard anything about this until I read it on Hewitt’s blog this morning. Does no one care? The National Cathedral is part of the Episcopal Church USA. Is it just that no one expects different from ECUSA, given their well-publicized liberalism?

There seems to be one person who does get it, though. The governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, a presidential aspirant, has ordered the state not to provide any security services for his visit. Good for him. It really does seem, though, that those who are “morally confused” greatly outnumber those who are not.

General Theology

The Sage of Omaha

by Clay Staggs

I saw an entry on the Drudge Report yesterday that Warren Buffett had married his “companion” of decades. Apparently, even though he separated from his wife back in the seventies, they remained married until she died a couple of years ago.

I thought this was an unconventional arrangement, and it made me think of Buffett’s recent pledge to donate billions of dollars to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. All this made me wonder about Buffett’s religion. A quick Google search reveals quite a few sources claiming that Buffett is an agnostic, as is Gates.

What I found strange was this comment from Buffett upon announcing his gift: “There is more than one way to get to heaven, but this is a great way.” Now why is an agnostic so sure about how to get into heaven? How does an agnostic even know that such a thing exists?

This brought yet another thought. Warren Buffett opposes the repeal of the estate tax, and refuses to leave more than 10% of his fortune to his children, substituting the Gates foundation instead.

This seems to me further proof of the principle that if man does not have the work of Christ as his justification with God, human nature will seek something else to go in its place. Buffett doesn’t just blow it all on stuff (like yachts or mansions), he makes a major press announcement about giving it away to a charity. He even outright states that this will definitely get him into heaven. Why is this the ticket in, and not leaving it to his kids? Do people who leave inheritances to their children not get into heaven? For someone who opposes the repeal of the estate tax (full disclosure: I support repeal), making such a large charitable donation will assure that he pays almost no estate tax. Would letting 45% of his fortune (maybe $20 billion in rough numbers) go to Uncle Sam get him into heaven?

I do not have $40 billion to hand to Bill & Melinda Gates to do who-knows-what with. I wonder what Mr. Buffet would advise me to do.

General Theology

Hearing Voices

by Clay Staggs

The New York Times this weekend published an article about women in the clergy and, more specifically, how few women lead large congregations. They call it the “stained glass ceiling.” The full text of the article is here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/26/us/26clergy.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&th&emc=th

The Rev. Dottie Escobedo-Frank, pastor of Crossroads United Methodist Church in Phoenix, is quoted in the article saying, “I speak differently than a man does … To hear the fullness of God’s voice, you need to hear both men and women.”

What an amazing statement. I read stuff like this and find myself yelling at the screen “Um, the Bible? Hello?” The implication here is that God’s revelation is ongoing and incomplete, and, indeed, can’t be complete until all the quotas are filled. It really is shocking how far from the authority of scripture modern American Christianity is straying.

General Theology

Prayer for the sick….

by Jimmy Hopper

I have always thought that praying for healing of the sick was necessary but needed to be done in a particular way that addressed the omnipotence of God. What we see in the “healing” services on television and, I’m sure, in certain churches, is an emphasis on results based on superior spirituality that almost “forces” God to do something, and on self indulgent rhetoric. While I’m certainly not advocating prewritten or canned prayers, I thought this prayer for the sick from www.catholic.org addressed the proper issues:

Dear Jesus, Divine Physician and Healer of the sick, we turn to you in this time of illness. O dearest comforter of the troubled, alleviate our worry and sorrow with your gentle love, and grant us the grace and strength to accept this burden. Dear God, we place our worries in your hands. We place our sick under your care and humbly ask that you restore your servant to health again. Above all, grant us the grace to acknowledge your will and know that whatever you do, you do for the love of us. Amen.

In it, there is humility, dependence, a plea for strength to deal with the situation, and acknowledgment of God’s will in all things, as well as the desire for healing. All of which seems to me to be what we should pray for in times of illness, even illness unto death.

General Theology

Lost in Translation While Walking Through the ‘Hood of Death

by Tim Lien

Newsweek recently published an article about the power and new popularity of “hip-hop” masses or “hip-hop services” for youth and the urban sub-culture. (Newsweek, July 31, 2006, “BeliefWatch: ‘Word’”) One pastor even created the Hip Hop Prayer book, inspired by the Book of Common Prayer. After recognizing that this would create controversy with some, the article ended like this:

“But proponents argue that using vernacular language in services is a way to draw young people to church. Everyone’s down with that.”

Aside from populating the pew, there were no other reasons given for why this approach would seem profitable. Understanding the Bible was not a real concern. The article also printed the “hip-hop” version of Psalm 23, by way of example. I’ve used the actual words from the article below, and I’ve added the New American Standard (NAS) and the New International Version (NIV) in an interlinear format:

Bible translation is a fascinating and complex discipline. And the debates for proper methodology are more heated than many realize. (In other words, this may only be interesting to geeks like me.) The King James camp, fiercely contends that their Bible is superior due to the sheer amount of manuscripts that support their translation. The NAS boasts that their translation is the most “literal” and “wooden,” while the NIV uses the phrase “dynamic equivalent” to describe their own translation. Example: To describe Saul using the bathroom, the NAS will transliterate the ancient idiom and render the phrase, “Saul covered his knees,” meanwhile the NIV will convert the ancient idiom into a modern or “dynamic” equivalent by translating the same thing as “Saul relieved himself.”

Enter the Hip Hop Prayer Book. I am not really concerned with variances in vernacular or even foreign words. I cannot expect the fluidity of linguistics and language to scare me into demanding a static translation. What does concern me, however, is the meaning of words. Faithful Bible translation is far more difficult than exclusively highlighting your modern context. It is imperative, necessary, and paramount that the original context of the writing is understood, as well. Failure to understand both, results in a sloppy, misleading translation. My critique of the Hip Hop Psalm 23 does not, I repeat, does not, include a negative reaction to words that I don’t often employ myself. My main concern is that responsible translation has taken place. And I would also argue that the translator, in this instance, has been far from careful or meticulous.

I will only highlight two, but there are more. Compare “The Lord is all that,” with “The Lord is my Shepherd.” This is an irresponsible translation. If “all that” is an adjective that means: “in possession of all good qualities,” (or some close approximation), then this is not the meaning. Although it would have made me cringe, I might have accepted “Coach.”

And finally, compare “He provides back-up in front of player-haters,” with “You prepare a table before me, in the presence of my enemies.” “Back-up” refers to “an ally that is prepared to assist you in a time of violence or peril.” (my definition) However, the Psalmist is actually describing a Great Benefactor that is bestowing blessing, honor, and publicly raising us in full view of those who would have us brought low. Additionally, “player-hater” insinuates that God’s people are really a bunch of smooth swingin’ cats that have great skills in conquering the opposite sex.

And, yes, I do hope that all of you fall back in the Lord’s crib for the rest of your lives.

General Theology

A. A. Hodge on the Lord’s Supper

by Steven Crawford

I purchased a few books from St. Matthews recently. Among them was Evangelical Theology by A. A. Hodge. I found this quote while reading a section on the Lord’s Supper:

Whosoever puts away true and real wine, or fermented grape juice, on moral grounds, from the Lord’s Supper, sets himself up as more moral than the Son of God who reigns over his conscience, and than the Saviour of souls who redeemed him. There has been absolutely universal consent on this subject in the Christian Church until modern times, when the practice has been opposed, not upon change of evidence, but solely on prudential considerations. Many Christians have, however, mingled water with the wine because it was an ancient custom probably practiced by Christ himself, and also by some because water mingled with the blood flowed from his broken heart (John xix. 34)

I thought the first part of the quote was interesting, because, growing up in the south, alcohol, in any form, is so frowned upon. Most churches I know, or have been a part of, use Welches® for communion (I’ve heard the story of how the Methodists created Welches specifically for communion). I was happy to find St Matthews uses port.

The second part of the quote explains something else I had noticed at St Matthews, and that is the adding of a little water to the wine. I enjoy learning the significance of various parts of the liturgy.

General Theology

N.T. Wright quote from Following Jesus

by Steven Crawford

I have been reading N.T. Wright’s book Following Jesus recently, and I ran across this gem (there were plenty others):

The Church, ironically, has usually lurched between the two options which Jesus refused in Gethsemane. There have been times when it has been a crusading Church, turning the sword of the gospel into the gospel of the sword, thinking to spread the kingdom of love by the weapons of hatred. God forgive us that we have turned the cross, the great symbol of suffering love, into a symbol which some in the world still have cause to fear. Then there have been times when the Church has withdrawn, has retreated into the private sphere, has thought of its religion as purely a matter between the individual and God, or at best between the Church and God, with nothing to say to the rest of the world. This may sometimes have been a necessary corrective against the crusading arrogance of the first option, but its is not the way of the Servant King.

General Theology

Beeson Pastor’s School

by Steven Crawford

Beeson is having a “pastors school” July 19-23; here’s a PDF of the brochure. Roger Salter has a workshop titled John Donne: The St. Augustine of Anglicanism. Sounds interesting. I wish I could attend. I’m hoping to get a copy of the audio if nothing else.

General Theology

Calculating Christmas

by Steven Crawford

I ran across this interesting article regarding the church’s choice for the date we celebrate Christmas. The story is at Touchstone Magazine. I’ve read a few other interesting articles there.